Automatic trolley-controlling device.



No. 760,;301. A PATBNTBD MAY 24, 1904,. v H'.v W.NIGHOLS.

AUTOMATIC TRULLBY GONTROLLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION IIL-JED` SEPT. 9. 1903. N0 MODEL.

Patented May 24, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE W. NICHOLS, `OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AuToMATiC TROLLEY-CONTROLLING DEVICE.

. 'SPEGIFICATIONforming part of 'Letters Patent No.' 760,801, datedMay24, 1904.

" Appnaeon ineav september 9, 1903. serial No. 172,431. un model.)

To all whom it `may concern:

y Be it known that I, HORACE W. NICHOLS@ citizen of theUnited States,residing at Philadelphia, county ot' Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement inAutomatic.` Trolley- Controlling Devices, of which the following@ is aspecification. f My invention relates to anew and useful improvement'invautomatic trolley-controlling devices; and it has forits `object toprovide a i vdevice to 'be attached to the car which willautomaticallypull thetrolley down below the wire at any time the trolleyvleaves thewire.

i" nation of elements hereinafter; ,set4fonth and;

then specifically designated bythe-claims this inventionappertains mayunderstandfhow to make andusethe same,the cdnstruction Figure 1 =is 'aside elevationof a portion of `a car, showing my device applied thereto;Fig.

2, a vertical cross-section through my device, showingthe parts intheirnormal position in full lines and the pawls raised ih dotted-lines; Fig.3, a longitudinal section through the case, showing the operating partsin'` elevation.

A represents the casing, which may be of any suitable shape or design toproperly contain the operating parts. This casing is provided with aslot A', formed through the upper side, through'which the trolley-ropeextends tothe trolley. This vcasing may be permanently secured to thedashboard of. the car, but would preferably be made removable, so as tobe changed from one end -of the car to the other when the trolley isreversed.

In the drawings I have shown the casingr adaptedto engagetheratchetf-'wheels With this end linview 'this invention'consists inthe details of construction andconbeend of the spring beingsecured tosaid axle l and thev other end to the drum.

' E is a trolley-rope, the lower end of which is secured to the drum andadapted to be wound thereon, this rope lpassing upward through the slotin the casing and' being secured at its upper -end to the trolley-pole.Upon each'end of the drum are secured the ratchet-wheels F. I y

c G is a longitudinal rod extending lengthwise of the casing andhavingsecured. upon each end the' crank-arms G', which arel pivoted'tothe casing, and secured to this rod-are the paviJlIs/ represents springsadapted' to throw the pawls into engagement with the ratchet-wheels. The

rod G is so located that when the pawls are in u engagement with theratchet-.wheels said rod In order that those skilled in; theart to which`will lie above the, drum,"'so that when the trolley-rope is drawntaut'it will rock the rod upward and remove the pawls from engagementwith thev ratchet-wheels; but as soon as the rope is slackenedthesprings Hl will act #to throw the pawls into engagement with theratchet-wheels again. Of course two ratchetwheels need not be used, asit would probably fbe only necessary'to have one lratchet-wheel upon onesideand` one pawl.

y In operation the device is as follows: When the trolley-wheel is uponthe wire and every- 'thing-is in its normal position,the springwithinthe drum is wound so as to be under tension, and the pawls willhold the drum from revolving against the action of the spring, and thereis a certain amount of slack in the rope, as shown in Fig. l. When thetrolley-wheel leaves the wire, the spring upon the trolleypole willforce the trolley-pole upward, and thereby draw the trolley-rope taut,whichwill raise the pawls from out .0f engagement with theratchet-wheels, and thus release the spring upon the interior of thedrum, and as this spring is much stronger than the spring upon thetrolley-pole this spring will revolve the drum, and therefore wind thetrolley-rope upon the same and draw the trolley downward below the wire.Then. it is only necessary for the conductor to pull suiicient rope fromthe casing, thereby winding up the spring within the drum, and then byallowing the rope to IOO slacken the pawls will engage the ratchetwheelsagain, and he can place the trolley upon the wire in the usual manner.

In order to insure the rope winding upon the drum so that the coils willlie side by side and not overlap one another, I provide a gearwheel I,secured to the drum and meshing with to travel'along the rod with theproper speedv to guide the trolley-rope so that the coils of the ropewill lie closely side by side upon the drum.

Pis a guide-rod, and the nut is provided with a fork M upon the oppositeend from the fork M, which straddles the guide-rod, and thereby preventsthe nut from revolving withA the rod K.

Secured in one end of the casing is the bell N, and secured at intervalsupon the end of the drum are the clappers or strikers O, which when .thedrum revolves will strike the bell, and therefore notify the conductorthat the trolley hasv left thewire.

The advantage of this device will be apparent to anybody skilled .in theart or kfamiliar with-overhead electric-car systems. The greatdisadvantage of' the system as it now exists is that when the. trolleyleaves the wireand the conductor is upon the interior of a crowded carthe trolley-pole is liable to strike the crosswires and break such wiresbefore the conductorA can reach the rear platform to pull the poledownward. i

With my automatic device the trolley-pole i will be pulled downwardautomatically within three or four feet from the point Where it has leftthe' wire. i v

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exactconstruction hereshown, as slight modiupon the rod, and' M is fications could be madewithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and usefulis- 1. In combination with a trolley car, a spring-controlled drumjournaled upon the car, the lower end of the trolley-rope heilig coiledupon said drum, means for normally holding the drum against rotation,means for releasing the drum when the trolley-rope is pulled taut so asto wind the trolley-rope upon the drum to pull the pole downward, meansfor automatically guiding the trolley-rope so that it will wind andunwind evenly from the drum, an alarm device actuated by the rotationofthe drum to notify the conductor when the trolley has left the wire,as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the character described, a casing removably secured tothe car, the casing being provided with a slot in its upper side throughwhich the trolley-rope extends,

.a drum arranged upon the interior of the casing, a stationary axle uponwhich the drum is journaled, a spring arranged upon the interior of thedrum and coiled. around the axle, one end of said spring being securedto the drum and the other end to the axle, the lower end ofthetrolley-rope being coiled upon the drum, means for normally holding thedrum against rotation, means adapted to be actuated by thetrolley-ropewhen it. is drawn taut for releasing the drum and allowingthe trolley-rope to be woundthereon by the action of the spring,automatic means for guiding the trolley-rope so as to cause it to bewound evenly upon the drum, an alarm de vice adapted to be sounded whenthe drum revolves, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof lI have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of tw'o sub-

